Charlie Harrison hopes GAA can explore new corners of the world as first strategic plan launched

GAA international manager Charlie Harrison is hopeful that they can lay foundations in new corners of the globe in the coming years as the association revealed its first-ever World GAA strategic plan.

The 2010 Sligo All-Star was speaking at the launch event in Newry with the plan setting out how they aim to grow the game further worldwide by 2026.

The 100-page document revealed how currently there are 475 clubs and 847 teams outside Ireland and the UK, but that number is set to rise significantly as demand increases.

Those 2026 club projections anticipate that the number of current active clubs, currently 434, will rise to 464 while the GAA also expects to increase developing, emerging and dormant clubs too.

Unsurprisingly, USGAA, New York GAA and Europe GAA provide the bulk of those clubs, with Australasia GAA (60), Asia GAA (28) and Canada GAA (27) also reporting good numbers.

The rest of the world – incorporating primarily Africa and South America – has only 10 clubs at the moment, but Harrison said that he expects that number to rise significantly in the coming years.

"We're in three different primary schools now in Uganda," Harrison told RTÉ Sport.

"Mexico is new, I’ve had a couple of emails in recent weeks, one from Nigeria, so it’s popping up all over the place.

"We’ve been in contact with Brazil, Argentina and there seems to be a real appetite for growth there.

"At the World Games in Derry last summer, 75% of the actual participants were non-Irish born.

"That’s where our growth is, it’s an exciting time."

This strategic plan aims to strengthen both the global reach and the impact of the GAA through a variety of key pillars and actions, mainly recruitment, participation, retention, increased awareness as well as fostering